Daihatsu Coure 2003: Pencil Sharpener

Economy was tough, and the acquisition of a second vehicle at our home was a move to be done carefully. Gas price increases were a sure thing in Central America every week, but my wife was in dire need of her "first car" experience.
Meet the kei car, a Japanese small city car category. Trust me, the first time I saw the vehicle, I said to myself: "you gotta be kidding". At least the windows were tinted so nobody would see me in my compression misery. I think the battery could have been taken out of a motorcycle.
Meet Daihatsu, a Toyota cousin who makes smaller, more frugal vehicles back in their homeland Japan. Some of their vehicles came to North America under the late Scion badge.
Meet Spartansburg: so-so paint quality (no clearcoat?), no tachometer, armrest or rear window wiper. AC was present as the big dealbreaker here. It did have factory seatbelts and steering wheel.
Meet kei car driving #dynamics: where crosswinds, and full size trucks are a real nightmare at freeway speeds.
City driving, however, was a different story. Gurgly, strong three cylinder (1000cc), was unbelievably fast and agile, even with 12 inch steel wheels. Tires were so slim that you wouldn't need power steering assist.
Previous owner had thrown in a Blaupunkt stereo, and to be honest, interior plastics felt high quality. An in-dash cupholder eased things a little.
We live and die by the sword (numbers), and to be honest, even with the compressed dimensions of the vehicle, we never saw dramatic savings on fuel. After some months we sold him, again, as someone's "first time" car. Don't ever think this won't happen to you :).